Former World Title Challenger Next for Padraig McCrory
Padraig McCrory [13(7)-0] will face a former World title challenger on the Return of the Mick bill.
The Belfast super middle was the first fighter officially confirmed on the undercard today.
‘The Hammer’ will fight high up the card at the SSE Arena on August 6.
Standing in the opposite corner in what will be McCrory’s first fight of 2022 will be Marco Antonio Periban [26(17)-5(2)-1].
At 37, the Mexican is passed his best and he hasn’t been too active of late but he still represents a dangerous enough fight, particularly considering McCrory has EU title mandatory status in his back pocket.
The Dee Walsh trained fighter certainly could have taken a less testing tread water fight while waiting for his shot at the continental title.
The El Arenal battler has fought just once since a 2019 defeat to Joshua Buatsi, stopping Gabriel Garcia in the eleventh round of a fight in April.
However, he has challenged for a world title and been in with some massive super middleweight names. Sadio Bika, Badou Jack, James DeGale and J’Leon Love are all names that appear on the Mexican’s record. Granted the majority of those fights took place nine years ago but it the kind of company McCrory hasn’t experienced sharing the ring with.
McCrory is the first undercard fighter to be officially confirmed. It’s believed Top Rank trio Paddy Donovan, Kurt Walker and Kieran Molloy will all appear, rumour has Tyrone McKenna as chief support and there is also talk of a fight for Sean McComb on the Belfast bill.
Michael Conlan tops the bill against a three time world title challenger in Miguel Marriaga.
